#bad pets

When visiting the City of a Thousand Planets, please stay clear of the Megaptor - it’s not a pet!

We had one dumped in the koi pond at my old job. Much slightly-hysterical conversation was generated, eventually cut short by me going NO we can't keep it it needs special UV light and the fish are all bullying it and JESUS CHRIST NO you can't release it into the wild it's an invasive species and WHAT DO YOU MEAN you're too scared of its jaws to catch it oh for god's sake give me five minutes with Mag's old baby tank and a bag of prawns look the poor thing's starving it'll just swim right over and let me hand feed it and I'll just grab it like this-

So then I had a damn terrapin. It was a very nice terrapin; I just didn't want one or have the means to house one for anything other than a short-term emergency foster. It was already 8 inches carapace length and would likely grow to 12. Also I didn't know that they hold their breath while sleeping underwater, so when I woke up in the middle of the first night and saw it lying on the bottom of the tank I thought I'd managed to kill it in under 24 hours. Complete pain in the arse to re-home. Anywhere that had the facilities already had more than they wanted. Seriously our local zoo has an entire exhibit that's just huge rescued terrapins and a big sign telling people DO NOT DO THIS STUPID THING. In the end I got really lucky and an old schoolfriend took it. Built it an indoor pond and everything.